May 2018 Happenings at Bear Creek Services

Wed, 23 May 2018 by Linda Driessen

The legislature adjourned on May 21st. Funding for the 7% cut to disability services was included in the Supplemental Omnibus Budget Bill. The bill did not completely fund the cut, but it did help to some extent. Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed this bill because of other items that were included.

The result of the legislature and governor not reaching a compromise is that the 7% funding cut for disability services will be in effect beginning July 1, 2018. This first year of the cut only includes some people who receive services. Bear Creek Services will not feel the full impact of the funding cuts until July 1, 2019. In the meantime, the cuts will have some immediate negative impacts on the bottom line of Bear Creek Services, and other disability services organizations throughout Minnesota.

Here are some thoughts I would like to leave you with:

1. Thank you to everyone who contacted your legislators and the Governor! Because so many people made their contacts, the budget fix was addressed in the final legislative bills. You responded to our call for help --- and really made a difference.

2. With some new legislators in office next year (probably), and a new Governor (Dayton is not running for reelection), we will have a new opportunity to reach out to legislators to fully fund disability services. When the time comes, we will again ask you to make contacts like you did this year.

3. You will not see any change in day-to-day operations at Bear Creek Services because of this veto. We are financially prepared to deal with possible unknowns such as this.

4. I ask that you stay engaged as we prepare to vote in November. We will need to have people in the government who care about disability services to be able to continue to provide personalized community life experiences.

5. Consider making a donation to Bear Creek Services in some way. This can be a financial donation, which we can really use. It can also be in the form of attending one of our special events. It can be in the form of volunteering a few hours to keep our properties up to date. There are many ways in which you can help us, and we could greatly use the support right now.

6. Please consider visiting us for "Lunch with a Purpose" if you have not already attended. We provide the true scope of impacts we provide for people in our community who have special needs. You can sign up here: